ABSTRACT
In their book Structural Surveys of Dwelling Houses, Melville and Gordon (1992, p.45) state that a dwelling needs a ‘sound head and feet’. There is nothing more evocative of a dilapidated building than a roof leak dripping water into a metal bucket! Murdoch and Murrells (1995, p.97) identified that problems associated with roofs account for 13% of the claims of negligence against surveyors, second only to damp and timber defects. This underlines the importance of the roof inspection.
